Madison is not the expressway
My wife and I went to Jimmy’s Restaurant for dinner, which is located on the north side of Madison Street, on Wednesday, March 1. We parked at Constitution Court, which is located on the south side of Madison Street. My wife and I walked to the crosswalk and over fifteen cars passed and not one car obeyed the law of allowing us to cross in the marked crosswalk. We even had a driver flip his lights at us to tell us not to cross. The same thing happened when we left, no one allowed us to cross in the marked cross walk.
I have noticed this occurrence for a long time at different times of the day. I encourage the Village of Forest Park and Forest Park Police Department to work a detail and see for themselves how drivers are using Madison Street as their personal expressway when the Eisenhower Expressway is slow and/or stopped between the hours of 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Not only is this a dangerous venture trying to cross Madison Street, careless drivers will not help businesses on Madison Street trying to grow if drivers don’t obey the law.
Forest Park, specifically Madison Street, is a hot place to live and shop. One reason it’s a pedestrian friendly community. If we want people to shop our Madison Street, the Village of Forest Park needs to address this issue with more signs and/or, increased fines for law breakers to name a few items. Siesta Key, which is part of Sarasota, Florida fines drivers $118.50 for a violation of not yielding to pedestrians. Siesta Key posts visible signs indicating the cost of the infraction.
I’m taking a neutral stand on the hiring of part-time police officers. If the Forest Park Police are going to hire part-time police officers, positioning them on Madison Street to enforce the crosswalk laws would be a great place to start.
This is our community and we live here. People who are using Madison Street as their expressway are not shopping for various items at various stores, eating at our restaurants, visiting our bars or banks to name a few items. These people see pedestrians as an inconvenience.
I ask the Village and Forest Park Police to crack down on these drivers, as they pose a danger to people shopping Madison Street.
Brian Hosty
Post office fails to stop junkmail
I would like to share my bad experience with the Forest Park Post Office, in addition to the latest complaints I have read in the Review. Ever since my spouse and I moved to Forest Park, we strived to reduce the junk mail load in our mailbox. We succeeded greatly, as all junk mail stopped in about three months after writing to the Direct Marketing Association and to the place that would prevent credit card offers based on our credit history.
The one junk mail that did’t stop was Shopwise, a hefty bundle that includes a card with missing people and a few pages of flyers and coupons which is delivered once a week. More than five years ago, I wrote to Advo, the company responsible for Shopwise, and they wrote me back, saying that they would stop sending their bundle to us. However, nothing changed, except that Shopwise junk mail started being delivered without our address printed on it, and without the missing people card.
I wrote to Advo, and got a letter saying that we should not be receiving Shopwise without the missing people card and/or without our address printed on it. I forwarded this letter to the Forest Park Post office. Nothing happened, and Shopwise junk mail kept on being stuffed in our mailbox every Wednesday. I patiently talked with three different postmen, I wrote to the Forest Park Post Office three times, including the Shopwise junk mail itself clearly showing that no address was printed on it. All I would get was a couple weeks of rest, and then the Shopwise junk mail bundle would reappear as if nothing had been said.
Over the years I got the same set of excuses over and over: that the postman didn’t know, that the postman was a replacement that day, that it would not happen again. I talked to many different people at the Forest Park Post Office, including the Postmaster a few times, but to no avail. I was told over and over that Shopwise had to be delivered if it had an address on it. I would clearly state that there was no address on it, and there was no missing people card with it either.
Post office workers would then say that I would not get it in the future, but a couple weeks later, Shopwise junk mail would be back as if they had been listening to the rain instead of a customer. After years of sending letters, USPS updated its system, so now all complaints have to be filed online. I sent two emails last August for which I did not get a reply, and nine emails since November for which I did get the same kind of replies I had gotten to my letters. But unlike the replies to the letters, I was told these complaints would be filed and they could be followed up. Therefore, I continued notifying the USPS each time Shopwise junk mail was stuffed in our mailbox against out wishes, and against Advo’s agreement with USPS, even inquiring why was it that USPS workers were so under-informed as to what they should or should not place in customers’ mailboxes.
Since November of 2005, I have talked with officials from the Forest Park Post Office, with the Forest Park postmaster, with officials from the national USPS, and with officials from the Northern Illinois USPS office. A couple weeks ago I got a call from a USPS official who started again from zero, basically giving me the most magnificent royal run around ever yet. Since this official had not even taken the time to read the thread of follow ups I had gone through, I replied that upon receipt of another Shopwise, I would write to the Newspaper. So this is my story. I have received the latest Shopwise junk mail dated March 12, 2006. As much as it upsets me that USPS has decided that our house is a dumpster, I don’t feel like letting go without doing something about it.
J. Johnson
Those with talent need not apply
Dear John Rice,
I admire your recent efforts to learn to play the keyboard and your ambition to someday play with the Lemurs.
As the leader of the Lemurs I can assure you that talent has never been a prerequisite for membership in the band, and in fact, it’s frowned upon. Consider for a moment that your brother Dan is in the Lemurs.
If you are as bad a keyboard player as you seem to indicate, please contact me immediately.
Dan Peterson
The Lemurs
Thanks to The Pavillion
The Pavillion of Forest Park deserves a big thank you from the Hollander family. My mother-in-law, Grace, spent nearly 18 months there before her passing in February, and we were completely satisfied with the service and performance of the staff. We’d especially like to thank Doctor McCray for his sensitivity and the nurses on the fourth floor for their poise in dealing with such a stressful job. We’d also like to give a special thanks to Maria and Bonnie who always had kind words and a smile every time we came.
The Hollander Family
